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Request a call backAt Beyond Legal our experienced team of probate solicitors based in Newton Abbot and Tiverton do their best to make the process of making your Will or Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) as swift as possible. Enabling less worry for you and giving you peace of mind that your assets will be protected. With probate matters, we work to take the burden of dealing with your loved one’s affairs from you, allowing you to cope with what is often an upsetting and distressing time. To help you understand the services and support we offer in regards to Wills a probate, please explore the different options available to you below.
Wills are an important action no matter your age, creating a Will will ensure that your estate is dealt with by someone you trust and that your assets will pass onto people that you wish to benefit from your estate. Commonly seen as something the elderly do, we cannot stress enough how important for all ages Wills truly are, especially those with children. Guardians can also be appointed for your children within a Will.
When you make a Will you can also make sure that you take advantage of inheritance tax (IHT) planning as well as care home fees and the protection of assets.
If you did not make a Will then your estate will pass under the laws of intestacy and this may mean that it passes to people who you do not wish to benefit from your estate. If you had no living relatives then your property will pass to the “Crown” rather than benefitting people or charities of your choosing.
If you already have a Will you should review it at least every 3 to 5 years and you will definitely need to update your Will if you have experienced such occasions as marriage, divorce, separation, having children, the loss of a partner/spouse or person named as a substantial beneficiary in your Will. If your estate has increased in value you will need to consider inheritance tax planning and should update your existing Will.
If upon reviewing your Will only small changes are needed to be made then this can be done by way of a Codicil.
Our Will writing solicitors are able to help you minimise the amount of inheritance tax payable on your estate. This will benefit your family and loved ones as much as possible. We keep up to date with the current levels of inheritance tax and therefore can assist you in calculating the amount your estate may be liable for. Following this step we can then provide advice around the various ways of mitigating the amount payable.
Examples of reducing the value of your estate for inheritance tax planning during your lifetime include such things as:
These are outright gifts that are not covered by the above exemptions. They can be for any sum of money or be comprised of property with any value. The key requirement is that the gifts are made more than 3 years before an individual dies taper relief can be claimed which will reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax payable. The gift will only be fully exempt if it is made at least 7 years before death.
Business Property Relief (BPR)and Agricultural Property Relief (APR) – If you have a Business or Agricultural Land that benefits from BPR or APR then these may qualify for 100% or 50% Inheritance Tax Relief. If they do benefit from such relief then it is a good idea to make use of such exemption by gifting them to someone other than your spouse.
Lifetime Trusts – Recent changes to the Law having made Lifetime Trust not as attractive for Inheritance Tax Planning but they may still be of some benefit.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a great source of comfort to many, they enable you to assign someone to manage your financial affairs or deal on your behalf with matters concerning your health and wellbeing should you become physically or mentally incapable. You must be 18+ and mentally capable when making this document. Our probate and Will solicitors are able to help you understand which LPA you require and get the document created.
You will need to choose attorneys who you trust and who have the skills and knowledge required to deal with your financial affairs and/or personal welfare. This can be family members, friends, colleagues or independent parties such as Will and probate solicitors.
You can just have one attorney but this could cause problems if they were, for example, to die before you or lose their mental capacity before you as you would then have to go to the expense of preparing a new Lasting Power of Attorney. If you did only want one Attorney to act then you can also appoint a replacement attorney to act if anything should happen to your original attorney which would help avoid the expense outlined above.
If you did wish to appoint more than one Attorney then you can appoint them to act jointly or jointly and severally, or jointly for some decisions and jointly and severally for other decisions. Once we know your circumstances clearly we can advise what appointment would be best for you in order to protect your interests.
The Lasting Power of Attorney has to be signed by an independent third party who confirms that you have the mental capacity to sign the document and that there is no other reason why the document should not be created.
In order for the Lasting Power of Attorney to be valid and able to be used by your attorneys it needs to be registered with the Court of Protection. There is a separate registration fee which must be paid to the court but you can obtain an exemption or remission if you are on benefits or a low income.
The registration process takes at least 6 weeks. Although you do not have to register the LPA at the time of preparing the document it is therefore safer to do so in the event it is needed urgently as this would avoid any delay.
Once the document is registered it does not have to be used straight away. We can store it at our offices for safekeeping until such time as it is needed.
If you were to become mentally incapable and you had not prepared a Lasting Power of Attorney or an Enduring Power of Attorney then an application would need to be made to the Court of Protection for someone to be appointed as a Deputy on your behalf.
The Deputy would be responsible for dealing with your property and financial affairs. If no one wishes to act as your deputy then the court can appoint someone on your behalf. There are a number of complex forms which would need completing which require in-depth information about your personal and financial circumstances. The process is quite costly (approximately £500 for the initial application and an annual fee of around £800) and lengthy which is why it is important to consider making arrangements to deal with your affairs while you are still mentally capable.
If you have an Enduring Power of Attorney that was prepared prior to the end of September 2007 then provided it was correctly signed and witnessed and you are still happy with your choice of Attorneys, it will still be valid.
If you are appointed as an Attorney under an Enduring Power of Attorney and the person who has appointed you has lost their mental capacity then you are under a duty to register the document with the Court of Protection. This will involve notifying relevant family members and completing an application to Register the Power. If you need assistance or advice on registering an Enduring Power of Attorney we would be happy to help.
Deputyship is a suitable option when someone has lost capacity, it enables you to request for the ability to make decisions for them. This differs from a Lasting Power of Attorney as an LPA is required to be submitted by someone before they lose capacity. Gaining deputyship can require many stages and certain actions to be done precisely. We are able to support and help you through the processes.
When a Will is needed to be proved or a Will was never created, the processes can be long and strenuous, in a time where many are struggling and need time to mourn. Our probate solicitors have worked closely with many clients to support them and help take care of all of the legal actions needed to complete the processes.
The administration of estates can be a confusing process for many, often a Grant of Probate is required when an estate is valued over £5,000. The Executor will have a duty to collect the deceased’s assets and administer them according to law. We can help you to understand all of these processes and what the Executor must go onto to do after, while helping to avoid a breach of their duties.
If someone dies having made a Will a Grant of Probate may be required if their estate is valued at over £5,000. In order to obtain a Grant of Probate it will be Executors’ duty to collect the deceased’s assets and administer the estate according to law. They must obtain date of death valuations of all assets and liabilities of the deceased at the date of death, complete the relevant Inheritance Tax forms, raise funds and settle any Inheritance Tax liability and then submit an application for the Grant of Probate. Once probate is granted the Executor will need to collect in or sell all assets, settle all liabilities, including any outstanding tax, produce accounts to the beneficiaries of the Will, pay any income, legacies and residue to the correct beneficiaries.
If Executors breach their duties they can be held personally liable to the beneficiaries or creditors of the estate. We can advise on all aspects of the Executors’ role and how to carry out their duties correctly, to include ways of protecting the Executors where possible. We can also advise on any potential claims against the estate and how to protect Executors from future liability.
While administering an estate may sound rather straightforward, there can be many difficulties in carrying out the administration of an estate correctly. Beyond Legal are experts in dealing with estates of all sizes, particularly large and complex estates liable to Inheritance Tax. Beyond Legal offers a professional service to assist the Executors in carrying out the administration of the estate, advising them on their duties and ensuring the administration runs smoothly from beginning to end.
We are also able to advise on any Trusts contained within the Will as well as varying the terms of the Will in the event a beneficiary wishes to redirect all, or part, of their entitlement and the taxation implications to both the estate and the beneficiaries.
Alternatively, if you feel you have a straightforward estate to administer, we can assist you with the application for the Grant of Probate (or Grant of Letters of Administration for Estates where there is no Will) only. We can prepare the relevant Inheritance Tax form, advise upon any liability which may arise, the Executor’s duties at this stage and prepare the Oath for swearing.
We offer a free half hour consultation with our probate solicitors, so call today to book an appointment regarding any Will or deceased estate enquiry.
We have joined up with Cancer Research UK to provide a Free Wills service for those aged over 18 years old, as well as participating in local charities schemes to enable and ensure that every adult has a professionally drafted Will in place.
It is estimated that as much as 60% of the population do not have a valid Will. At Beyond Legal we want to help every adult to manage their affairs as efficiently and comprehensively as possible. We understand that this is a subject that many approach with some apprehension or anxiety, and therefore we are here to help make the process as efficient and as clear as possible for our clients – giving them the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their wishes will be properly taken into consideration; without incurring expensive legal costs. This is why our Free Will service is so important.
We are often asked ‘why is it so important to have a Will in place’. The overriding reason for doing so is simply to ensure that you, rather than the Government of the day, decides who is to receive the benefit of any estate you leave behind. There are of course other compelling reasons to ensure that you have a valid Will in place and the following gives some further points to consider;
Trusts are created for a variety of reasons, from tax and estate planning purposes to other issues such as asset protection. From creation to proper administration, we are experienced in working to each individual case when creating trusts. We will ensure that trust is robust enough to withstand any challenges and will end up meeting its objectives.
Many people worry about going into a care home and ending up having to use their savings and assets towards payment of the fees.
One of the main concerns that people have is whether the value of their home will be taken into account when calculating care home fees. Your home will not be counted as capital if any of the following are still resident in the property:
Your council may also not choose to count your home as capital if your carer lives there.
If you go into a care home temporarily then you will not have a financial assessment for the first eight weeks of your stay. The local council will say what they think is a fair amount for you to pay for this time.
You should not deliberately deprive yourself of assets by transferring them to someone else to avoid nursing home fees as if the local council believes that you have done this they can still count what has been transferred as your assets when carrying out a financial assessment.
We can advise you on the options available to protect the value of your home and assets and the risks involved in any transfers being considered.
We can also assist in protecting half of the value of your property under the terms of your Will via the severance of any joint tenancy and creating a trust in your Will leaving your half share in the house to someone other than your spouse.
If you are concerned about any financial assessment that has already been carried out on family or friends that are receiving nursing care we can advise if they have been assessed correctly and also provide advice on NHS Continuing Care and claims for top up payments.
We advise everyone to make a Will to ensure their estate is distributed in accordance with their wishes. However, many people do not make a Will and their estate is distributed in accordance with the Intestacy Rules:
The spouse will be entitled to the whole estate.
When there is a surviving spouse and surviving children the spouse is entitled to:
The remaining half of the residuary estate passes to the surviving issue.
All children will each receive a share of the estate. This is held on the statutory trusts until such time as each child reaches the age of 18 and attains a vested interest. If a child does not attain a vested interest and has no children of their own then that share is divided equally between the remaining children in equal shares.
In the event that you do not have a surviving spouse or children then there is an order of entitlement. If there is no-one in a category then the next category must be considered:
If there is one surviving relative in a category they will receive the whole estate excluding anyone in a lower category.
If there is no surviving relatives in the above categories then the estate passes to the Crown, Duchy of Lancaster or Duke of Cornwall.
We’d love to talk to you about how our will writing and probate solicitors can help. Contact us today at our offices in Newton Abbot and Tiverton for a free initial consultation.